There are numerous applications in which an optical source, e.g., laser or light beam, may be need to be shuttered (rapidly turned on and off), chopped, modulated (spatially or temporally), or deflected. One such example is consumer grade photography where rapid shutter speed prevents the camera from being over exposed and prevents blurring. In various other applications, shuttering needs to be done rapidly to improve signal to noise ratio or improve performance of the optical device being used. Current methods have limited speeds and are excessively large and/or expensive.
Prior solutions for optical devices have not resolved the need for an approach to perform one or more of the above actions without drawbacks, e.g., optically and electrically inefficient, size constraints, and/or cost-prohibitive. Therefore, there is a need for optical device systems and methods that address one or more of the deficiencies described above amongst others.